Meta Shakes Up European Leadership Amidst AI and Executive Departures

Meta is facing a period of leadership transition in Europe with the announced departure of Laurent Solly, Vice President for Europe, after twelve years with the company. A successor has not yet been named, and this follows the recent exit of Yann LeCun, a key figure in Meta’s artificial intelligence development.

Laurent Solly initially joined Facebook in June 2013 as Managing Director for France. He progressed to Vice President for Southern Europe three years later, and ultimately was appointed Vice President for Europe in 2025. Prior to his tenure at Meta, Solly spent six years at TF1, overseeing their advertising operations. His career also includes a period in the public sector, culminating in his role as Deputy Director of Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign, spanning from 1996 to 2007.

Solly expressed immense satisfaction with his time at Meta, highlighting the exposure to Silicon Valley’s dynamic environment, new markets, and the rapid pace of technological change. He also noted the significant impact and challenges presented by these transformations. “This adventure at Meta has given me immense professional satisfaction, introduced me to Silicon Valley, its boundless energy and ambition, exposed me to new markets and cultures, taught me about international business, helped me understand the intensity and speed of the technological transformations under way, and made me realise the impact of the upheavals, opportunities, and challenges we are experiencing,” he stated.

While Solly’s replacement for the European role remains unconfirmed, Pierric Duthoit has already stepped into his former position as head of French operations, reporting to Derya Matras, Vice President for EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa). This appointment was made over the summer.

The departure of Yann LeCun, often referred to as one of the “godfathers of AI” and a pioneer in deep learning, adds to the leadership changes. LeCun left Meta in November, citing increasing pressure from Mark Zuckerberg and senior management as a contributing factor to the perceived failure of the Llama 4 AI model, which was considered obsolete upon its April 2025 release.

LeCun is now focusing on his venture, Advanced Machine Intelligence Labs, aiming for a $3 billion valuation. This new endeavor seeks to develop advanced AI systems that go beyond language models (LLMs) to achieve a deeper understanding of the world, rather than simply generating text or statistical responses.

In 2024, Meta reported revenue of €158.1 billion with an estimated EBITDA of €94.5 billion. The US and Canada represent the largest revenue source at 38.5%, followed by Asia-Pacific (27.3%) and Europe (23.3%). Advertising remains the dominant revenue stream, accounting for 94.3% of the total, while services (payments, subscriptions, licenses) contribute around 1%, and virtual reality, previously anticipated as a key growth area, generates 1.3% of revenue.